The Autumn 2012 issue of Bicycle Quarterly will be mailed next week. This issue celebrates 10 years of the magazine. That’s right: Ten years ago, the first issue of what was then Vintage Bicycle Quarterly was mailed. It’s been a long journey from a magazine that focused mostly on vintage bikes to a general “magazine about the sport we love.” The anniversary provides a great opportunity for a retrospective of a decade of research, of great stories, and of wonderful rides.

We also present you the bikes that the Bicycle Quarterly team rides today. You will find that we share some preferences, but we disagree on others. Who rides a racing bike and who prefers a randonneur bike? Who rides 700C and who is on 650B? Want to know why one of us loves internally-geared hubs, while another doesn’t like them at all?

Bicycle Quarterly always been about the future of cycling as well as its past, and in this issue, we bring you independent tests of the latest generator hubs. How much does a generator hub really slow you down? We used a model based on the new tests and Bicycle Quarterly’swind tunnel and tire resistance data to provide realistic answers for the various popular models of generator hubs.

Inspiration is a great part of every issue of Bicycle Quarterly. This issue takes you on an (almost) non-stop 1200 km ride in the Cascade 1200. Enjoy the small and large adventures as our editor (that’s me) trains, prepares and rides this amazing event.

No issue of Bicycle Quarterly would be complete without a bike test. We put a classic randonneur bikes from a young builder through its paces. Does the J. Bryant Randonneuse ride as well as it looks?

What kind of bike would you ride if you were going from Paris to Saigon in 1949? We bring you the story of the builder Lionel Brans, who set out to do just that, and feature the bike he designed to handle the rough roads of the Balkans and the roadless deserts of Afghanistan, while carrying 88 pounds of luggage. His mission also was to showcase the latest of French bicycle technology, so his machine was equipped with many interesting features, including what may be the first aero brake levers.

This is only a small snapshot of the latest issue, and as always, there is much more. To start or renew your subscription, click here.

Congratulations Jan, and hopefully BQ will be here the next ten years too. Looking forward to getting the Autumn issue.
Will the test of the generator hubs btw include output of wattage compared to speed/rpm?

Ok, thanks for the answer. I was actually thinking of power consumption/fricton vs. amount of light produced (how efficiently the work is translated to light). But I guess the amount of prouced light is roughly equal to the power consumption in the hub (no differences in energy losses between the hubs). Hope the question makes sense; I’m not what you’d call an expert in the subject..

You can calculate the efficiency of the hub very easily: Power consumed divided by power output (both in Watts). The most efficient hubs convert between 70 and 80% of your power input into electricity. The worst had an efficiency of about 30%. It all depends on the speed and load, generally, generator hubs are more efficient the more load you put on them.

How much light that produces depends on the headlight, of course. However, what most cyclists care about is how much the hub slows them down at various speeds. We calculated that for flat roads, uphills and downhills, both for a strong rider and a more casual one, for the hubs in the test.

I’m looking forward to the article on dyno hub efficiency. I’m currently running a SONdelux hub on my Boulder bike and a SRAM iLite dynohub on my Blériot commuter. Power is fine with both, but the SRAM is certainly draggier. It will be interesting to see some objective info. The SRAM was 1/3 the cost of the SON…OK as a commuter hub.

Clearly the market was looking for credible information. The test reports are conducted according to the best standards of double – blind , peer-review, with all conflicts of interest declared. Rare indeed for any mag, lets alone one devoted to consumer product. Love it!

Happy birthday! It’s the only magazine I subscribe to, as well. It also happens to be the publication I stumbled upon by chance which eventually changed the way I thought about cycling. And as a result cycling became considerably more practical and enjoyable for me.

Happy Anniversary! My experience echoes the others commenting here. BQ completely changed my perspective on cycling, making me into a bit of a heretic among my local riding companions who follow the conventional wisdom of the market today. Keep up the great work!

Happy decade anniversary! I’d also like to take the opportunity to thank you for all the work, which has also changed my understanding of bikes. I just wish I had begun reading earlier, so that I had been more effective at moving people towards their ideal bikes. I should also mention that you’ve had quite a significant impact on the industry, and that’s another big breath of fresh air!